


New Tricks

by Semi_problematic



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Its really soft, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 05:52:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14050347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semi_problematic/pseuds/Semi_problematic
Summary: Carl rolled his eye, turning around and walking down the hallway. He kept looking forward as he stepped into his room, standing in the middle. "There's a sleeping bag. Books. Comics. A lamp. A few posters." He turned around and looked at Negan. "Sorry if it's not as entertaining as you planned on it being."Negan stepped into the room, looking around it. "Mhm." He stepped around Carl, walking towards his closet door. "You got a dart board. You any good?" He fell silent, squinting and studying the holes that surrounded the outside of the board. "Nevermind. I think I know the answer to that." Negan looked down at the table in the room, picking up each of the darts. "You know... maybe you could learn something fro-""I used to be good at it." Carl whispered. "I used to be able to get all three in the middle. But then..." He laughed, looking up at Negan. "Then my eye got shot out." He looked away as soon as Negans eyes landed on him. Negan didn't like feelings. It was stupid of Carl to bring up something he felt so terrible about. Negan already tore him apart over it once, he didn't need to go through it again.





	New Tricks

**Author's Note:**

> Carl is 18/19 like always

"Jesus christ." Carl heard his father say from the other room. "They're here again. Again! It's the third time this week. We can't keep up with this. They took our guns. Leaving is almost impossible now." 

"Rick." Michonne sighed. "We need to get out there and be ready for him. Maybe he's just here to ridicule us. He may be insane, but he isn't stupid. He can't expect is to fill this quota he has planned for us in only two days." She fell silent. "We just need to go out and listen. I hate this as much as you do, but we've seen what happens when we don't listen. People die. Our family... they die." 

Rick was the one sighing now. "Yeah, you're right. I just... it's like it never ends. We thought we were safe in the prison, then we thought we were safe here, but... it feels like we'll never be safe. I don't want to think this way, to... to feel this way but I do. It feels impossible. No matter what I do, what we do, whether it be listen or fight, we still lose." 

"Rick." Michonne repeated. "I know. I feel it too, I worry too, but now isn't the time to sit and feel sorry for ourselves. Now is the time to go out there and bite our tongues until they bleed and fall off because that's what Negan wants. And right now we will give him what he wants. Because that's what works. Listening works."

"But what happens when listening isn't enough?" Rick was louder now. "What happens when suddenly he changes his mind and wants double or triple what we can do. What if-"

"Then we change. We will be what he wants until we get the chance to not be. But that chance is not in the near future and as much as I want to step on his head until its unrecognizable, I know I can't. We both know fighting back will make this worse and we can't lose anyone else." Michonne paused. "Let's just go. Listen. Give him what he wants. Then come home and try to think of a way to fix this." Michonne walked towards Carls room, her boots dragging across the floor. She tapped on his door. "Carl?"

Carl opened the door, looking at her. "He's here." He looked out the window, watching Negans men drive their trucks into their home. "I won't leave and I'll take care of Judith. Like always." 

Michonne smiled at him. It was sad. Kind of like an apology. She cupped his cheeks and kissed his forehead. "Your dad's having a really hard time right now." She sounded like his mom, except kinder. Lori was always angry with Rick. Angry and tired. Michonne loved him. The real kind. "Be good and don't give him too many heart attacks." She looked down the hall. "We don't know how much more he can take." 

Carl nodded. "Be careful. Don't let him do anything stupid, okay? I'm not out there to calm him down so you have to be." Carl loved Rick. But it wasn't like a father. It was like something else. Like a stranger who saved him. The Rick Carl grew up with was not the Rick he lived with now. The same way as the Carl Rick raised was not the Carl he lived with now.

Michonne nodded and smiled, waving goodbye to him then to Judith who laid on her stomach. She had been coloring before Rick began panicking, but she stopped when she heard the yelling. She dropped her crayons and sat silently, listening to the yelling, not understanding the words but understanding the panic in their voices. Michonne closed the door behind them as they left, leaving the house quiet.

"You can color again." Carl mumbled, sitting down next to her. "I always like when you color." He turned and looked out the window. Negan and his men stood in rows in front of the few people left in town. Carl prayed if he heard gunshots today that they were shooting zombies, not his family. "Maybe I can color, too."

Judith looked up at him and smiled. She picked up a paper and handed it to Carl, handing him a blue crayon. She didn't seem to like the color blue. All of her crayons were worn down, all but the blue ones. Carl liked to pretend that she didn't hate the color, but instead saved it for Carl. As if she knows it was his favorite color back when he had time to think about those things. The simple things. 

They colored in peace, Carl tuning out the yelling from outside along with the crying and begging. Judith was humming to herself. It was a song Maggie had taught her. Some lullaby that Hershal had taught her when she was little. Carl didn't know many lullabies. He only knew 'You Are My Sunshine' which was the song his mom sang to him every time he had a bad dream. Carl wished she was there to sing it for him again, since all he ever really has is bad dreams. 

Carl was pulled out of his thoughts when something hit the door with a loud thud. He froze for a moment, listening as each thud hit the door. They were only seconds apart and sounded nothing like a knock. It didn't even sound like a fist was hitting the door. It sounded like more of an object, like a bat. 

"I'll be right back, okay?" Carl tilted Judiths head up. "Go hide like we practiced. Don't come out until I call you." He picked her up and carried her towards the hall closet, pulling it open and setting her down. She climbed inside, sitting on a pillow and wrapping herself in a blanket. Carl shut the door and pulled his knife out, walking towards the front door. He yanked it open. "Why are you here?" 

"Well.." Negan smiled at him. "Hello to you, Carl." He pushed past Carl and stepped inside, forcing the bat into Carls hands. "I know your daddy wasn't the best but did he really not treat you any manners?" He turned around and looked at the living room, then the kitchen. "I didn't see our little angel outside. Where is she?" 

Carl gripped the bat, fighting the urge to swing it around and hit Negan in the head until his slick black hair was soaked in red. "I don't know." He snarled, holding the bat in both of his hands. "And if I did I wouldn't tell you. She's off limits." Carl stepped in front of him, straightening up. "You can kill everyone around me, but I will not ever let you take her. Understood?" 

Negan looked down at Carl before laughing. The urge turned into an itch. An itch to beat the grin off of Negans face, hitting him so hard that his skin gets yanked off by the barbed wire and clings to the bat soaked in blood. "Calm down, killer. I just wanna play. Believe it or not, I have a soft spot for kids. Teenagers on the other hand..." He looked Carl up and down. "Not as much." 

"Whatever." Carl looked around the room before sighing. "What do you want? We already have nothing. We've been like this for days." He looked down at the bat, sliding his hand across it. "It's not like we can find and replace all that we had in two days with no guns." He handed the bat back to Negan. "So, I suggest you leave." 

"What?" Negan smiled. "I can't visit my favorite little serial killer." He held the bat loosely in his hand, walking further into the house. "Now, I know you know where Judith is. And how do I know that? Probably because I have eyes and every time shes around you're looking at her. So drop the stubborn ass attitude and tell me where she is. Last chance." 

Carl looked at Negan, then at the closet in the hallway. He walked towards it, slowly, trying to think of a way he could protect her in case Negans kindness was an act and that he wanted to hurt them. He pulled the door open and picked Judith up, holding her in his arms. "Its okay, it's safe." He kissed her head and turned around looking at Negan. "Happy?" 

"Ecstatic." Negan set the bat down on the couch, propping it up against a pillow. "Hello, sweet thing." Negan picked Judith up, holding her high up on his chest. "Relax." He told Carl without looking away from her. "I would never dream of hurting this angel. She hasn't done anything wrong." He smiled at her, kissing his cheek. "Pretty thing." 

"Her names Judith." Carl stated. "So call her that or don't all her anything." His eyes stayed on Negans hands and arms the whole time he held Judith. Watching each move they made, whether it be a muscle tightening or a finger twitching. "Can I have her back now?" 

"If it means you stop staring at me with your weird ass one eye, yes." Negan set Judith on the floor, smiling at her. He picked up the bat and pointed it at Judith. "Lucille wants to say h-" 

Carls hand curled around Negans wrist and his nails dug into it. "Stop." He stared up at Negan, pulling his wrist so that Lucille was pointed at his feet. "Don't you ever get that thing near her again. The world may be fucked up, you may be fucked up, but she isn't and I will not let you change that." 

Negan looked down at Carls hand, chuckling. He yanked it away, swinging the bat so it was leaning against his shoulder. "Why don't you show me your room? I got to see everything but that when I was here last. I think its about time."

Carl rolled his eye, turning around and walking down the hallway. He kept looking forward as he stepped into his room, standing in the middle. "There's a sleeping bag. Books. Comics. A lamp. A few posters." He turned around and looked at Negan. "Sorry if it's not as entertaining as you planned on it being." 

Negan stepped into the room, looking around it. "Mhm." He stepped around Carl, walking towards his closet door. "You got a dart board. You any good?" He fell silent, squinting and studying the holes that surrounded the outside of the board. "Nevermind. I think I know the answer to that." Negan looked down at the table in the room, picking up each of the darts. "You know... maybe you could learn something fro-"

"I used to be good at it." Carl whispered. "I used to be able to get all three in the middle. But then..." He laughed, looking up at Negan. "Then my eye got shot out." He looked away as soon as Negans eyes landed on him. Negan didn't like feelings. It was stupid of Carl to bring up something he felt so terrible about. Negan already tore him apart over it once, he didn't need to go through it again. 

Negan nodded. "Well um..." He looked down at the darts in his hands. "Guess it's kinda hard to play with only one eye... makes um... everything seem centered when its not.." He walked towards Carl, stopping when he was about a foot away. "Throw them. Let me see-"

"Why?" Carl asked. "So you can just insult me again?" He studied Negan. The way his face didn't grow cold and the way his eyes darted around as if looking for a place to escape. He looked down at the darts, picking each one up. "Fine. But if you say one word I will make sure I get all three of these darts in your eyes." 

"Awh..." Negan mocked. "A man after my own heart." He stepped behind Carl and watched him as he focused, aimed and threw each dart. The first landed on the door, digging a new hole into the wood. The second hit the rim of the dart board and hit the floor. The third hit near the rim of the dart board, sticking in loosely. "You've gotten better. Only one hit the door." 

"And only one stuck." Carl turned and looked at Negan. "I told you I couldn't do it. The end. Now can you leave." He walked to the board and pulled out the dart inside of it then the dart that stuck to the door. He bent down and got the last dart, gripping them so tight that his knuckles were white. 

"No." Negan replied. "I'm gonna teach you how to do it with one eye." He walked up to Carl and pulled the darts from his hands. "How hard can it be? You can shoot fine. You can fight fine. Just... I don't know. Do what you did when you shot all of my men." 

Carl scoffed, crossing his arms. "Will you ever get over that? Do you really blame me? You took my home and killed two of my friends right in front of us." He backed up and let Negan aim and throw each of the darts. They all hit the middle, it seemed like Negan didn't even have to think about it.

"You got a point." Negan chuckled. "Now go get those darts and let me teach you. It's like a bonding moment of us. Serial killer in the making and psychopath with control and anger issues. They would make a show out of us." 

"Shut up." Carl mumbled, picking out each of the darts before backing up. The room fell silent as Carl took aim, throwing the first dart. It hit the board, digging a new hole into it. Carl smiled to himself but made sure Negan couldn't see it. He threw another, the dart landing three inches away from the middle. He threw the last one, chewing on his lip. It hid a few inches away from the middle once more. "How can you fix that? I just can't play darts anymore." 

"You can." Negan replied. "Just figure out where your middle is. Throw it. Look at how many inches away you are, then adjust it the next time. Just fake it." He patted Carls back, pulling out the darts and handing them back to Carl. "You really don't need perfect aim. You just need to figure out how to correct yourself." 

"Whatever." Carl threw the darts again, one landing next to the edge of the board, one landing an inch away, and the other hitting the door. "That doesn't work." He sighed. "This isn't even a big deal. It's just some game." Carl turned around and looked at Negan. "Can you leave now?" 

"No... just..." Negan was being more patient than usual. More kind, too. Carl wondered if it was some sort of hidden guilt. A guilt he buried deep but still remembered whenever he saw Carl. A guilt that when he insulted Carls eye he took it too far. He did. They both knew that. But in Negans broken way he was trying to fix it. And Negan was one stubborn asshole. "Go get the darts. We can try something else."

"I really don't think you can do anything to fix this." Carl sighed. "It's just a game. If you want to help me... leave. For good. Don't teach me how to play a game that won't help me in the world." He pulled out all of the darts and backed up towards Negan. "You want me to do it again or som- what are you doing?" 

Negan leaned down behind Carl, wrapping one arm around his waist. His nose was pressed against the top of Carls head. His other arm reached out and stretched forward. "Pick up a dart and aim. I'll correct it." He bit his lip and pulled Carl against him, tight. "Trust me, okay? You saw how good I am."

Carl rolled his eye and picked up one of the darts, aiming. Negan wrapped his fingers around his wrist and slowly guided his arm to the left, centering his aim. They stayed like that for a moment, pressed together and breathing softly. Negan checked the aim before nodding and telling Carl to go. Carl threw the dart and it stabbed into the middle of the board.

"Get another." Negan mumbled. "And aim. I'll fix it again." Negans breath was warm on Carls neck, but for some reason it sent shivers down his spine. Carl picked up a second dart and took aim before Negan wrapped his hand around his wrist. This time, instead of focusing on the game, he focused on the feeling of Negans hand burning against his skin. It felt like his arm was on fire, but in the best way possible. "Go..." Negan whispered.

Carl threw the dart and it landed in the middle again. He smiled to himself, pressing back against Negans chest. He looked down at the arm wrapped around his waist and only smiled wider. "Are we gonna do that for the last one?" He tried to hide how eager he sounded but it didn't work.

Negan nodded. "Yeah. Get ready." Negan pressed his face to Carls neck, closing his eyes. He slipped his hand underneath Carls shirt. He waited until Carl took aim to adjust his arm. He threw the last dart and it landed in the middle, again, stabbing a new hole into the board. "See? I told ya so." The game was over but Negan was still holding Carl. And Carl was still pressing against Negan.

"Let's uh.." Carl looked back at him. "Let's do it again." This may be guilt. Guilt that Negan hurt the kid more than he had already been hurt. Guilt that Negan broke an already broken part of Carl. Guilt that Negan hurt Carl in a way he will always remember. But if this is guilt, Carl loves it. Because right now, nothing feels better than being pressed against Negan, with his arms wrapped around him.

"Yeah." Negan smiled. "Yeah. Go get them and we can go again. Maybe this time you can get the last one on your own." 

This may be a silent apology filled with hidden touches and secret glances. But when Carl pulled out the three darts and walked back into Negans arms again, Negan knew he was forgiven.


End file.
